Group H contenders
Spain
Switzerland
Honduras
Chile

Route to the finals
Following victory at Euro 2008, Spain embarked on an absolutely flawless World Cup qualifying campaign. Drawn alongside Bosnia-Herzegovina, Turkey, Belgium, Estonia and Armenia in European zone Group 5, La Roja won all ten of their matches, scored 28 goals and conceded only five.

This was the fourth time in a row that Spain had managed to negotiate World Cup qualification without losing a game, establishing a record of 45 consecutive Qualifiers without defeat.   

Manager
Taking over from Luis Aragones following Spain’s success at Euro 2008, Vicente del Bosque is well qualified to take the reins of a championship winning side.

As Manager of Real Madrid between 1999 and 2003, del Bosque produced the club’s most successful period since the 1950s and ‘60s. The 59-year-old won two Champions League titles, two La Liga titles, a Spanish Super Cup, a UEFA Super Cup and the Intercontinental Cup.

Much like when in charge of Madrid, in the Spanish national team del Bosque has a group of players who know how to play together with little direction from the bench needed.

The quality of the individuals is considerable and as long as del Bosque can maintain the team ethic of recent years he has every chance of continuing the country’s success.

Player watch
Where to begin? In a truly talented squad of individual players Spain still manage to perform as a cohesive team where no one player is bigger than the whole.

There is no better example of this than in midfield, where the likes of Andres Iniesta, Xavi, Xabi Alonso and Cesc Fabregas all battle for places.

Up front, Fernando Torres and David Villa provide a fearsome partnership capable of troubling the world’s toughest defences, while Carles Puyol, Sergio Ramos and Joan Capdevila provide their own defensive rock in front of captain Iker Casillas.

Competition History
First appearance: 1934
No. of appearances (inc 2010): 13
Best result: Fourth (1950)
Matches against England: 22

Squad

Goalkeepers
1	Iker Casillas	Real Madrid, ESP
12	Víctor Valdés	FC Barcelona, ESP
23	José Manuel Reina	Liverpool, ENG
Defenders
2	Raúl Albiol	Real Madrid, ESP
3	Gerard Piqué	FC Barcelona, ESP
4	Carlos Marchena	Valencia CF, ESP
5	Carles Puyol	FC Barcelona, ESP
11	Joan Capdevila	Villarreal CF, ESP
15	Sergio Ramos	Real Madrid, ESP
17	Álvaro Arbeloa	Real Madrid, ESP
Midfielders
6	Andrés Iniesta	FC Barcelona, ESP
8	Xavi	FC Barcelona, ESP
10	Cesc Fábregas	Arsenal, ENG
14	Xabi Alonso	Real Madrid, ESP
16	Sergio Busquets	FC Barcelona, ESP
20	Javi Martínez	Athletic Bilbao, ESP
21	David Silva	Valencia CF, ESP
Forwards
7	David Villa	Valencia CF, ESP
9	Fernando Torres	Liverpool, ENG
13	Juan Mata	Valencia CF, ESP
18	Pedro	FC Barcelona, ESP
19	Fernando Llorente	Athletic Bilbao, ESP
22	Jesus Navas	Sevilla FC, ESP